Episode 1: What Is a Cypherpunk? Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~12 minutes | Format: Awakener (Philosophy) Episode Summary In 1993, a mathematician named Eric Hughes wrote nine words that would define a movement: “Cypherpunks write code. Privacy is necessary for an open society.” Three decades later, those words matter more than ever. But what exactly is a cypherpunk? And why should you care? ...
Episode 2: Nothing to Hide? Really? Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~8 minutes | Format: Myth Buster Episode Summary “I have nothing to hide.” It’s the most common response when privacy comes up. And it’s completely wrong. This episode dismantles the “nothing to hide” argument by exploring: The Snowden quote that reframes privacy as a right, not a privilege Who decides what’s “wrong” to hide (and how that changes) How harmless data aggregates into a surveillance profile The chilling effect: how surveillance changes behavior Why the burden of proof should be on the watcher, not the watched Key Quotes “Arguing that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like arguing you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” — Edward Snowden ...
Episode 3: Your Phone Is a Tracking Device Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~10 minutes | Format: Awakener (Philosophy + Practical) Episode Summary Your phone knows more about you than your closest friends. Where you sleep, where you work, who you meet, what you buy, what you search for at 2 AM. This episode reveals: What your phone knows: Location history, app usage, contacts, biometrics, and more Who sees that data: App developers, advertisers, data brokers, governments The metadata problem: Why “just metadata” is more revealing than content The permissions illusion: How “deny” doesn’t always mean no Real examples: Location data selling, period tracker apps, and surveillance capitalism in action One thing you can do: A single actionable step to start taking back control Key Quotes “Your phone isn’t a phone that happens to have tracking capabilities. It’s a tracking device that happens to make calls.” ...
Episode 4: What Snowden Revealed Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~9 minutes | Format: Awakener (Philosophy + Practical) Episode Summary In June 2013, a 29-year-old NSA contractor walked out of a secure facility in Hawaii with the most explosive intelligence leak in American history. The Snowden revelations changed everything—not because they told us something we didn’t suspect, but because they proved it. With documents. With code names. With PowerPoint slides from the surveillance state itself. ...
Episode 5: You Are the Product Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~8 minutes | Format: Awakener (Philosophy + Practical) Episode Summary You’ve probably heard the phrase: “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” But it’s not just that Facebook shows you ads. It’s that Facebook built the most sophisticated psychological profiling system in human history—and you volunteered all the data. ...
Episode 6: Building Your Threat Model Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~10 minutes | Format: Practical Episode Summary “Privacy” isn’t one thing. Protecting yourself from advertisers is different from protecting yourself from hackers. Protecting yourself from an abusive ex is different from protecting yourself from a government. The tools are different, the tradeoffs are different—and if you don’t know what you’re defending against, you’ll either do too little or exhaust yourself doing too much. ...
Episode 7: Password Managers Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~9 minutes | Format: Practical Episode Summary Most people use the same password—or a minor variation of it—across dozens of accounts. Their email, their bank, their social media, all protected by “Fluffy2019!” with a few symbols thrown in. When one database gets breached, and databases get breached constantly, attackers don’t get one account. They get the keys to everything. ...
Episode 8: Browsers That Don’t Spy on You Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~8 minutes | Format: Practical 📝 Correction This episode recommends the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension. The EFF retired HTTPS Everywhere at the end of 2022 — every modern browser now enforces HTTPS automatically. Instead of installing it, just turn on your browser’s built-in HTTPS-Only Mode (Settings → Privacy). Everything else in the episode stands. ...
Episode 9: Search Engines That Don’t Track You Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~6 minutes | Format: Practical Episode Summary Google processes over 8 billion searches a day, and every one teaches Google something about the person asking — what you worry about, what you want, what you fear. Even with a private browser, using Google Search undermines everything. This episode covers the search engines that don’t build a profile on you. ...
Episode 10: Escaping Gmail Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Duration: ~8 minutes | Format: Practical Episode Summary Gmail has over 1.8 billion users, and Google processes every message you send or receive — encrypted in transit and at rest, but with Google holding the keys. That means Google can read your mail, hand it to law enforcement, or expose it in a breach. This episode covers the email services that make a fundamentally un-private medium private anyway. ...